I was wondering if raw can be used for training treats? Hot Dogs and Pet Botanics are currently the highest value stuff I have but I'd like something higher for more demanding situations. And Dakota goes nuts over his raw meaty knuckles he gets so it got me thinking. What would be okay to use for treats (this wouldn't be frequent, I want to have a very high value treat for those rare occasions.)? Raw beef hearts, beef liver, etc?

Yes, but do you touch the equiptment, hold leashes for other owners, touch your clothes, or anything else? If so, you run the risk of catching, sharing or spreading disease. This is not smart, nor is it fair to anyone else who trains with you, or if you train at home, shares your home with you.

Yeah, I would not use raw when training. I'm not obsessed with germs and salmonella but that's pushing it. I use hot dogs or commercial dog treats. I use the dried liver occasionally but I think if you use it all the time that ends up being way too much liver. They do love it though.

Stella & Chewy's makes a great raw-alternative treat - freeze dried dinners: crumbles well, several flavors, and every dog I've met goes crazy for it. We use it at the school where I teach in training classes, and most of the time owners leave class and immediately buy a bag for themselves.

MissKitty wrote:I use Freshpet Vital Dog Food, it is a refrigerated roll that I cute into tiny cubes. Apollo would spit out a hotdog for the stuff.

I've seen those in the grocery store. I'll sometimes use the Natural Balance rolls cut up into small pieces. Goona have to try this though. Are they hard like the NB ones? I figured they'd be too squishy to cut up as treats.